Residency fraudsters face deportation

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A Djibouti couple who gained residence in New Zealand by providing fraudulent information to Immigration New Zealand now face possible deportation.

Halimo Mouhoumed Warsama and her husband Ali Daher Houssein were sentenced in the Auckland District Court to nine months home detention and 150 hours community work.

The couple came to New Zealand in 2002 on visitor visas. Houssein departed New Zealand after only four days, but Warsama stayed on and later applied for and was granted residence under a false name. She then went on to sponsor a residence application by her husband, who also used a false name.

Immigration New Zealand fraud and compliance manager Peter Elms said: "Inevitably people who rely on concocting false backgrounds and relationships will be found out. It's just a matter of when."

Elms said the means of detecting identity fraud had increased significantly since 2002, when Warsama and Houssein offended, including the ability to store and use biometric data, like fingerprints.